The immediate goal of this 3-year proposal is to strengthen the candidate's research knowledge and skills and provide an opportunity to synthesize these in the investigations of physical activity and other outcomes as they relate to cardiovascular disease control and prevention in women, especially those of ethnic minorities. The overall goal is to produce an independent investigator whose career commitment is to the production and dissemination of science that will make an impact on the health of minority women. To reach this goal, the candidate will pursue a 3-phase program, based on a Research Essentials model, the review of which by the trainee and her co-mentors produced 9 training objectives. These objectives provide for progression from knowledge acquisition to skill development to synthesis. Rush University is an environment conducive to multidisciplinary biomedical and clinical research projects. Two mentors with expertise in patient-oriented outcomes and cardiovascular research (from the colleges of nursing and medicine, respectively) will oversee the candidate's training and execution of the research project. In addition, 3 senior researchers and content experts, in the areas of recruitment and retention in women and minority populations and patient-oriented outcomes, will serve as consultant faculty. This propose research synthesis study uses a randomized, controlled design to investigate the impact of short bouts of accumulated physical activity on blood pressure [BP] and health-related quality of life in African-American women, a high-risk group for hypertension. This study will not only quantify the impact of exercise prescription on BP and quality of life, but also, for the first time, investigate the role of endothelial function and hemodynamic correlates of BP change in this high-risk population. Given the well documented high prevalence of obesity in African-American women, the low levels of physical activity and fitness in these same women, and the link between physical activity/fitness and obesity with elevated BP, hypertension-prone and mildly hypertensive African-American women are logical targets for a physical activity intervention. Findings from this project as well as the knowledge and skills developed as part of the training experience, will enable the candidate to propose an ROI level investigation, [as the principal investigator, in multidisciplinary patient-oriented research.]